Navigation

Category Archives: David Darracott

Post navigation

Is outspoken the right word? I think so, but I’ll also add knowledgeable and talented. Ask David Darracott anything about writing and he will not only have researched it thoroughly, he’ll have formed an educated opinion and give you his advice. Advice worth listening to.

I know. I joined North Atlanta Writers, a critique group he chairs and have benefited tremendously from his advice—often boiled down to just a word or two, but a thought that makes me pause and then head back to my manuscript for a thorough scrubbing.

For those who don’t know David, he’s the 2015 Georgia Author of the Year (GAYA) in the Detective/Mystery Category for his novel “Wasted,” which is much more than a mystery. Profound, good read, and riveting thriller are all words used to describe David’s second novel. His first was “Internal Security,” another thriller. Both books have received high praise. Besides the GAYA award, David has received several other awards, including a Hambidge Fellowship in 2009 and 2010. The Hambidge is a creative residency program offered to talented individuals selected from creative thinkers across the United States and around the world. In the peace and quiet of the north Georgia mountains, David concocted some of his most chilling scenes for novels, both written and planned.

“We writers often toil in the dark,” David has said, “with little reward or recognition for the work we do or the arduous careers we lead.” And if anyone is out to change that, it’s David. There’s not a day on his calendar when he’s not chairing a critique group, conducting a seminar or class for writers, making appearances, or teaching literature, composition, or writing at the University of North Georgia. Well, perhaps there’s a day or two here and there where he works in a game of golf or goes fly fishing.

David and his wife Donna have lived in Cumming for 14 years, though David is a native of Atlanta and Donna Statesboro.

No matter what your GPS says, you might think as you drive up you’ve arrived at the wrong address. But you haven’t, you have “arrived,” as Siri says. Humpus Bumpus inhabits a red brick house with hardwood floors, fireplaces, and nooks and crannies everywhere, all of them chock full of books (and if you look, you’ll find a copy of one or two of mine). This Cumming fixture is an independent bookstore offering both new and used books and a popular book exchange program. If that weren’t enough, don’t miss the “Den of Deep Discounts” in the middle of the store with books available for as little as a dollar.

Click Humpus Bumpus for more information about this independent book store in Cumming, Georgia.

Know a talented Georgia author or good local bookstore that you would like to see on these pages? Contact me at rona_simmons@bellsouth.net.